Promise Fulfilled
by Rirureddo
Summary: What would have happened if Shadow The Hedgehog returned to Space Colony Ark with Sonic The Hedgehog after they defeated The Finalhazard? Takes place at the end of "Sonic Adventure 2."


_**~Promise Fulfilled~**_

Rouge the Bat's heart literally leaped for joy as she witnessed the scene that just happened before her very eyes. Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog had just defeated the Final Hazard and stopped Space Colony Ark from crashing into Earth. Words couldn't begin to explain how happy and grateful she was to the two hedgehogs for not only saving her life, but the lives of all the people on Earth as well.

She looked over to the rest of whom was on the Ark and saw them celebrating Sonic and Shadow's victory. Her rival Knuckles the Echidna was happily pumping his fist in the air, Amy Rose and Miles "Tails" Prower were hugging each other in complete joy, and Dr. Eggman was simply gazing out of a window into space. Upon closer inspection she saw that there was a very relieved look on his face.

Rouge walked over to one of the windows and looked out of it and saw two golden-glowing figures heading towards the Ark. A smile found its way onto her face as she thought of the Ultimate Life Form known as Shadow the Hedgehog. She didn't know why, but she had developed feelings for Shadow. When it happened, she didn't know. Maybe it was when she first laid eyes on him after infiltrating the Ark. Maybe it was when he saved her life on Prison Island. Despite when and where it happened one thing was for sure.

Rouge the Bat had fallen in love with Shadow the Hedgehog.

She leaned up against the window as she came to this realization. She, the loner, the jewel thief, the one who didn't trust anyone but herself, had fallen head over heels in love. Because of her occupation she refused to allow herself to get attached to anyone because she didn't want anybody to get in her way of accomplishing her goals and getting what she wanted.

But with Shadow it was different. At first she was only interested in him because he was the objective of her mission. But after working with him and getting to somewhat know him, Rouge couldn't help but become attached to him. Then over time that attachment grew and the bat slowly but surely began to fall in love with the hedgehog.

Amy then walked up to the window Rouge was leaning against and looked outside of it and said excitedly, "Hey guys look! Sonic and Shadow are on their way back!"

Tails and Knuckles ran up to the window and looked out of it as well and saw the two heroic hedgehogs enter the Ark.

"Wow," said Tails. "Those two are incredible. They destroyed that monster and stopped the Space Colony from crashing into Earth."

Knuckles nodded his head in agreement and said, "Yeah. As much as I hate to admit it, I had Shadow figured all wrong. He really came through for us in the end."

Rouge smiled at that comment. _'He sure did.'_

At that moment the door to the control room opened and everyone turned their heads to see Sonic standing in the door way with a huge smile on his face.

"Sonic!" screamed Amy, Tails, and Knuckles as they ran towards the hedgehog and bombarded him with hugs. As his friends embraced him Sonic couldn't help but smile as he held them back. He lifted his head up and looked at Dr. Eggman, who simply nodded his head at him, which Sonic returned. After Tails and Knuckles pulled away from Sonic Amy still had her arms around his neck and was now crying.

"Oh Sonic!" she cried into his shoulder. "I was so worried about you! Don't you ever do that to me again Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Sonic wrapped his arms around Amy and told her in a soft voice, "I apologize for making you worry about me so much Amy. I'm here now. Everything's ok."

Amy simply continued to cry into Sonic's shoulder while he held her. Tails and Knuckles smiled at the two of them as Rouge walked up to Sonic.

"Sonic," she began. "First off, I want to thank you for saving the earth, the lives of all the people there, and my life as well."

Sonic gave her his famous grin and said, "No biggie. It's in the hero job description."

Rouge looked around and then asked him, "Where is Shadow?"

Before Sonic could answer everyone heard a voice say, "I'm right here."

They all turned their heads back towards the control room entrance and saw the Ultimate Life Form himself, Shadow the Hedgehog, walking into the room with his usual look on his face. He looked around and was greeted with smiles from all present in the room, even Dr. Eggman. He walked up to Sonic and stood in front of his blue counterpart and looked him in the eyes.

It was just a few short hours ago when Shadow could honestly say with all his heart that he hated Sonic. Although he respected him for his abilities he completely despised the Blue Blur. But after witnessing how far he was willing to go for his loved ones Shadow began to think differently of Sonic, as it reminded him of how far he was willing to go for Maria.

After a few seconds Sonic extended his hand towards Shadow and said, "Good job out there Shadow."

Shadow looked at Sonic's hand, slowly extended his hand as well, and shook Sonic's had with a smirk on his face as he said, "You, too…Sonic."

Sonic chuckled and said, "That's the first time you didn't call me 'Faker.'"

Shadow returned the chuckle and said, "Indeed it is."

After shaking Sonic's hand, Shadow's eyes fell on Rouge the Bat. He didn't know what it was about the bat girl that made him feel what he was feeling. It was a feeling that was completely new to him. The only other time he even felt remotely like this was when he was with Maria. He felt for her like a sister, but it was slightly different with Rouge. He felt like if anything ever happened to her he would go crazy.

Shadow walked past Sonic and the others and walked up to Rouge. She stood looking at him with a very relieved and happy look on her face.

"Hey there Shadow," she said while crossing her arms just below her chest and putting on as strong a front as she could. "You really did great out there."

Shadow nodded and said, "Yeah. Thank you."

All of a sudden Rouge broke her front and threw her arms around Shadow's neck and pulled him into a deep embrace.

"Thank you so much Shadow!" she cried before bursting into tears. "Thank you for saving us and the earth! Thank you for everything!"

Shadow was a little shocked at her outburst but soon regained his composure and wrapped his arms around her and held her close while comforting her with soothing words.

* * *

Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles looked at Shadow and Rouge holding each other with surprised looks on their faces.

"Wow," said Tails. "I could tell that Rouge kind of liked Shadow, but I didn't expect for her to care this much about him."

"You can say that again," said Sonic. "Just look at those two! They've only known each other for a second and they are practically all over each other!"

"Love works like that sometimes," said Amy as she intertwined her arms with Sonic's and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Sonic looked at her and said, "You mean like love at first sight? Like that could ever…," He stopped himself mid-sentence as he thought about his and Amy's relationship.

Amy looked up at him and asked, "Like that could ever what Sonic?"

Sonic thought up something really quick. "Um, like that could ever… happen with two people as different as them! Yeah that's what I was going to say! Just look! They are complete opposites in so many ways!"

"True," said Amy. "But opposites attract, and they are proof of that. I mean don't they seem like the perfect couple?"

Sonic did a double take at Shadow and Rouge. Shadow was black, Rouge was white. Shadow was a hedgehog, Rouge was a bat. Shadow had red eyes, Rouge had green eyes. But despite those differences he also saw how much the two of them obviously cared about each other and held feelings for each other.

A smile found its way onto Sonic's face as he said, "Yeah, they really do."

Tails smiled as well as he looked at Shadow and Rouge. Then he turned to Knuckles and saw that there was a slight look of jealousy on his face.

"Hey Knuckles," he said. "Are you alright?"

Knuckles snapped out of his little trance and said, "Huh? What? What did you say?"

Sonic saw the look on Knuckles face as well. "Ha ha ha! Hey Knux," he called out. "Do I detect a little jealousy?"

Knuckles got a slight blush on his face as he said, "Me? Jealous? Don't make me laugh! Like I would be jealous of either one of them! I hope that they do get together! That way Shadow can keep that thieving bat busy so that I won't have to worry about her trying to steal the Master Emerald again!"

Sonic, Amy, and Tails all narrowed their eyes and got smirks on their faces as the same thought crossed their minds.

'_Yeah. He's jealous alright.'_

* * *

Rouge continued to cry while being held by Shadow. She was so grateful to see that the hedgehog wasn't hurt and still alive after that battle and her feelings just came out the minute she laid eyes on him.

Shadow continued to hold Rouge a stroke her hair a bit in attempt to calm her down. He didn't understand why she was crying so much. Earth had just been saved from destruction. She should be happy, not crying right?

A few seconds later Rouge pulled back from Shadow although her arms were still around his neck.

"I'm so sorry Shadow," she said. "I couldn't help myself. I was just so worried about you when you and Sonic left to fight that monster. Then I saw that you were ok and I…,"

Shadow gently shushed her and said, "It's ok Rouge, its ok. You don't have to apologize for anything."

She looked up at him with her eyes and Shadow became lost in them. Even though they were filled with tears he still thought they were beautiful.

'_Her eyes,'_ he thought. _'They're absolutely gorgeous.'_

He took one of his hands and gently put it on Rouge's cheek and took his other hand and began to wipe away her tears with his thumb. Rouge smiled as he did so.

"Thank you Shadow," said Rouge.

Shadow smiled and said, "No problem."

Rouge found herself gazing at Shadow's smile which almost made her knees buckle.

'_He has such a cute smile.'_

Shadow took his hands away from Rouge's face as he felt himself blush from touching her.

'_What is wrong with me,'_ he thought to himself. _'I've never felt anything like this before in my life and I think that Rouge has something to do with it. What has she done to me?'_

Rouge saw that Shadow was in deep thought about something and asked him, "Shadow are you ok? What's wrong?"

Shadow looked at her and said, "Rouge I have a question to ask you. A question that I need the answer to."

Rouge nodded her head and said, "Ok. What is it?"

Shadow took a deep breath and asked, "Rouge what is this that I'm feeling whenever I'm near you?"

Rouge got a slight confused look on her face as she asked, "What you feel when you're near me? Shadow I don't understand. What do you mean by what you feel?"

Shadow was silent for a couple of seconds as he carefully picked his choice of words. "Whenever I'm in your presence I feel as if nothing else in the world matters, just you. If you got hurt, I want to heal you. If you were in trouble, I want to help you in any way I can. If you were sad, I would want to put a smile on your face. I feel as if anything ever happened to you that I would go crazy. I want to know what has happened to me and what this is that I'm feeling. Can you tell me?"

Rouge stared at Shadow in complete silence. She could hardly believe it. Shadow felt for her in the same exact way that she felt for him! She could feel tears coming to her eyes once again as she began to speak.

"Shadow I know exactly what it is that you are feeling."

Shadow looked at her and asked almost desperately, "What is it? Please tell me!"

A single tear fell from Rouge's eye as she said, "Shadow you are in love."

Shadow's eyes widened as he said, "In love?"

Rouge nodded her head and wrapped her arms around Shadow once more as she said, "Yes, love Shadow. It is the most wonderful feeling in the world. It is when you feel very strongly for another person. It is like that person is your everything and you would do anything for that person, regardless of the circumstances."

Shadow looked over at Rouge and asked, "I'm in love with you? Is that what this feeling is?"

Rouge nodded and said, "Yes it is Shadow. And you know what?"

Shadow's ears perked up a bit. "What?"

Rouge gave Shadow a quick kiss to his cheek and said, "I'm in love with you, too."

Shadow's eyes widened as he said, "You love me?"

Rouge held onto Shadow tighter as she replied, "Yes I am Shadow. I truly, deeply love you. I thought jewelry was my only love in this world but after meeting you that all changed. Remember I told you that being in love is when a person is your everything? You are my everything Shadow the Hedgehog. I love you."

Shadow for the moment was completely speechless. Rouge held the same exact feelings for him as he did for her. His heart felt as if it was on cloud nine and for the first time in a very long time, he was truly happy.

He pulled away from Rouge and took her face into his hands and looked into her eyes. Then he said in a voice that almost made Rouge melt, "I love you Rouge."

Rouge cried tears of happiness as she said, "I love you, too Shadow. With all my heart, I love you."

Their faces began to lean closer and closer to each other until their lips met in a soft kiss. Everything else didn't matter to Shadow and Rouge at this moment. All that mattered was them and the love that they had for each other. Shadow wrapped his arms around Rouge's waist and she in returned wrapped her arms around his neck as their kiss became more passionate. Shadow ran his tongue across Rouge's lips and she opened her mouth and let his tongue come in contact with her own. She moaned as she felt his tongue massage hers and she began to do the same. After about two minutes the need for air became too great and the two of them reluctantly pulled away from each other. They gazed into each other's eyes for a few seconds until they heard clapping, whistling, and cheering. They turned to the direction of the noise and saw Sonic and Amy applauding them.

"WHOO-HOO! Rouge, you go girl!" yelled Amy in happiness.

"Yeah Shadow! That's the way to go! Get your woman bro!" cheered Sonic as he added in some whistles.

Shadow and Rouge both blushed profusely as Sonic and Amy continue to cheer for them. "Would you two knock that off!" they yelled at Sonic and Amy in unison.

Sonic and Amy stopped their antics as Sonic said, "Ok, ok. In all seriousness, congratulations you two. It's always great to see happy moments like this."

Amy walked up to Rouge and gave her a hug and said, "Yeah. I'm so happy for you both."

Rouge hugged Amy back as Sonic gave Shadow another handshake and said, "Good luck to you guys."

Shadow nodded and said, "Thanks."

Amy pulled away from Rouge and said, "So how about it guys? What do you say we head back home?"

Sonic said, "Oh yeah! I think I speak for all of us when I say we've had enough of outer space for a while."

Rouge said, "Yes, I agree. I have a lot to report to the president. And plus, I wouldn't mind having a housemate." She finished her sentence by giving a wink to Shadow.

He blushed and said, "That sounds nice."

Sonic looked around and saw that Dr. Eggman was nowhere to be found. "Looks like ol' egghead high-tailed it out of here already," he said. "Oh, well. He'll pop back up eventually. Ok let's head to the space shuttle. Tails and Knuckles should have it back up and running by now."

Amy, Shadow, and Rouge all nodded their heads. Sonic then said, "Ok guys, let's go! Back home to the planet as cool and blue as me!"

Amy ran up to Sonic and the two of them walked out of the control room hand in hand. Rouge intertwined her arms with Shadow's and the two of them began to walk out of the control room behind Sonic and Amy.

Before exiting the room Shadow took a quick glance back at the room and said to himself,

'_Maria, this is what you wanted right? This is my promise that I made to you.'_

He turned back towards Rouge and was greeted by her beautiful smile. He returned the smile and the two of them headed to the space shuttle to return back to earth to begin their new life with each other.

_**~The End~**_


End file.
